The Preamble to the Constitution of India presents the principles of the Constitution and indicates the sources of its authority. It was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly and came into effect on 26 January 1950, celebrated as the Republic Day of India. It was amended during the Indian emergency by Indira Gandhi where the words "socialist" and "secular" were added.
Words
Historical background
The preamble is based on the Objectives Resolution, which was moved in the Constituent Assembly by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 accepted on 22 January 1947 and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, coming into force on 26 January 1950. B. R. Ambedkar said about the preamble:
It was, indeed, a way of life, which recognizes liberty, equality, and fraternity as the principles of life and which cannot be divorced from each other: Liberty cannot be divorced from equality; equality cannot be divorced from liberty. Nor can liberty and equality be divorced from fraternity. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things.
While the Constituent Assembly was debating the Preamble, there was an argument to rename India the 'Union of Indian Socialistic Republics' as if India was to imitate the U.S.S.R. However, other members were not convinced.
There was even argument as to whether to include the names of 'God' and 'Gandhi' in the Preamble. The former was outvoted when 68 members voted against 'God'. H.V. Kamath desperately commented, 'This, Sir, is a black day in our annals. God save India'. While the latter - the suggestion to include Gandhi's name, was disapproved by Brajeshwar Prasad who felt that the 'rotten constitution'- which was based on the American Supreme Court cases and Government of India Act and thus not 'Gandhian' in nature, should not carry his name. Prasad said,"I do not want that the name of Mahatma Gandhi should be incorporated in this Constitution, because it is not a Gandhian Constitution.... If we had a Gandhian Constitution, I would have been the first to offer my support. I do not want that the name of Mahatma Gandhi should be dragged in the rotten Constitution." The preamble page, along with other pages of the original Constitution of India, was designed and decorated by the renowned painter Beohar Rammanohar Sinha of Jabalpur who was at Shantiniketan with Acharya Nandalal Bose at that time. Nandalal Bose endorsed Sinha's artwork without any alteration whatsoever. As such, the page bears Sinha's short signature Ram in Devanagari lower-right corner. The calligraphy was done by Prem Behari Narain Raizada.
An integral part of the Indian constitution
The Supreme Court of India originally stated in the Berubari case presidential reference that the preamble is not an integral part of the Indian constitution, and therefore it is not enforceable in a court of law. However, the same court, in the 1973 Kesavananda case, over-ruled earlier decisions and recognized that the preamble may be used to interpret ambiguous areas of the constitution where differing interpretations present themselves. In the 1995 case of Union Government vs LIC of India, the Supreme Court once again held that the Preamble is an integral part of the Constitution.
Question of Amendability before emergency
In the Berubari Case (1960), the amendability & the significance of the constitution came into force. A question was raised relating to the powers of the Parliament to cede Indian territory to a foreign country, as an interpretation of Article 3. The Supreme Court had held that the power of Parliament to diminish the area of a state as guaranteed in article 3 of the Constitution does not cover cession of the Indian territory to a foreign country. Hence, Indian territory can be ceded to a foreign country only by means of amendment of the Constitution under the Article 368. Consequently, the 9th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1960 was enacted to transfer the Berubari Union to Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan). Supreme Court also held the view that Preamble cannot be a part of the constitution but later in Kesavananda Bharati Case (1973), the Supreme Court gave a comprehensive verdict. It said that Preamble is part of the Constitution and is subject to the amending power of the parliament as are any other provisions of the Constitution, provided the basic structure of the Constitution is not destroyed.